Case Studies
Glaucoma series
Disease state training for UK optometrists
Innovative thinking
The Directorate of Optometric Continuing Education and Training (DOCET) tasked Insitu Digital with creating a modern and informative learning programme focusing on the eye condition glaucoma.
DOCET provides learning courses for optometrists across the UK to keep knowledge and skills up-to-date through continuing education and training (CET). This training is essential to ensure that the services optometrists provide are fit for purpose and to assure the public of the continuing competence of practitioners.
DOCET required an up-to-date and extensive redesign of its glaucoma content to reflect national changes in managing and treating the condition. The new content needed to fit into its online learning management system that is accessed by optometrists to complete their mandatory learning targets.
Our expertise in delivering learning for eye health professionals, particularly our previous work for a prominent medical devices company, was a key factor in DOCET selecting Insitu Digital to deliver this project.
Challenges
A rich topic
Glaucoma is a condition where higher than normal fluid pressure in the eye can cause permanent sight loss. The treatment and assessment of glaucoma require specialist qualifications, which only some optometrists have, and referral to a hospital eye service when appropriate.
It is therefore essential that optometrists have a working knowledge of current approaches to assessment, management, referral and treatment of the condition. Our learning designers needed to keep in mind that despite the vast and detailed landscape of knowledge around glaucoma, the deep learning being created for DOCET had to remain relevant and informative for all their learners.
Into the 21st century
The client’s existing learning programme for glaucoma was a dry, presenter-led video delivered on DVD and was no longer fit-for-purpose for modern learning expectations. The content was heavily out-of-date, and after review, it became evident an entirely new online course would need to be devised from scratch.
Future in mind
Glaucoma is a subject where medical research is extremely active. As understanding continues to progress every year, the DOCET learning programme needed to balance current national guidelines with a forward view of how patients may be managed and treated in the future. As well as providing baseline knowledge, the new training also needed to encourage learners to go further and consider becoming more specialised in glaucoma care.
Delivery
How we solved the problem
In order to meet these challenges, our team:
Our team:
- Worked with highly respected optometrists and ophthalmologists at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital. By working with these experts, our team ensured course content was up-to-date and at the cutting edge of modern understanding and best practice.
- Worked with specialist glaucoma optometrists in high street stores, to understand the route patients would take from primary care on the high street, to secondary care at the eye hospital, and back again to the high street.
- Assessed the most vital and up-to-date research to create learning modules that would give learners what they needed to know, but then also provided opportunities for further learning for those that wanted a deeper understanding of the topic.
- Created a multimedia learning programme, helping to keep the complex content palatable, including written text, artwork, animation and video. Video segments featured clinical comments from experts and demonstrations of common assessment procedures in clinical environments.
- Delivered 10 deep learning modules as part of a learning strategy that would be accessible and refreshing whilst ensuring that newly qualified and senior experts alike would find the content engaging.
- Developed clinical case studies for learners to evaluate their understanding and apply their knowledge.